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General News of Wednesday, 27 May 2020

Source: www.mynigeria.com

Ezekwesili laments treatment meted out to journalists by govt

Oby Ezekwesili Oby Ezekwesili

Former Minister of Education, Oby Ezekwesili has lamented the treatment meted out to journalists in Nigeria in recent times.

MyNigeria.com learnt that a certain radio broadcaster, Kufre Carter, was been detained by the Department of State Security, DSS.

Kufre is being held for allegedly defaming Dominic Ukpong, the Akwa Ibom state commissioner for health.

Reacting to the news, Ezekwesili called the attention of the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), and relevant authorities to help end what she described as "tyranny".

She tweeted: "Another one? Na wa o. The frequency with which Journalists are being arrested, detained, missing is a sure sign of abuse of power by federal, state and even local authorities in the country. The FG @NigeriaGov @NGRPresident @MBuhari should lead the way in ending this tyranny.

"Anyone who ventures into Public Office — whether elected or appointed — knew what they’ll be up against from media and citizens in a quest for Public Accountability. Even when journalists and citizens are wrong in approach, there are constitutional process for reacting to them.

"Ours is a Constitutional Democracy. It provides for Rights &Processes.

We don’t need a Democracy where the Presidency, Ministers, Governors and Commissioners can easily be angered to the point of detaining journalists/citizens on a whim just because of what they said or wrote".